Keira: the Survivor
by MsRandomZING
Summary: People assume that Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were always together, after the battle. In truth, they didn't get together for nearly three years. It's my fault, really. I'm an observer, a time traveller. This is the time I spent with the Boy Who Lived.
1. Assassinating the President

Disclaimer: I'm not JK, and I don't own Harry Potter.

As you read this, you may or may not pick up on the fact that this is quite a lot like Doctor Who. Just throwing in a disclaimer that I'm not the BBC either.

* * *

One-  
Assassinating the President.

* * *

June 4th, 1998.

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

* * *

I was sitting in a cafe in Edinburgh, drinking a cup of tea and drawing up plans for John F Kennedy's assassination (maybe I did, maybe I didn't) when a young man with glasses and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead walked in. He was mumbling angrily to himself as he sat at the table next to me and ordered a cup of coffee.

I leant over to him. "Excuse me, but could you tell me the date?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, it's the fourth of June," he said, looking at me sceptically.

"I missed it again," I groaned. "Not far enough back!" He looked at me weirdly and took his coffee off the waitress. "Wibbly wobbly, time-y wimey, wibbly wobbly, time-y wimey!"

"What?" he asked, obviously wondering whether I was sane.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" I asked, looking at his face.

"Depends, why?"

"I don't know; you just seem really familiar."

"What are you working on there?" he asked, shuffling his chair over to get a closer look.

"Oh nothing, it's just work stuff."

"Looks like you're planning to kill someone," he said, one eyebrow raised. "Looks like you're planning to kill JFK, actually."

I opened my mouth and then closed it again, trying to come up with a clever lie. "I... work for... the... Government," I said awkwardly. He smiled at me as if to say 'yeah right' and we both burst out laughing.

"I'm Harry," he said holding out a hand. "Harry Potter."

"Keira Reid," I smiled, taking his hand and shaking it. "What brings you to this part of Britain, Harry Potter?"

"Come to visit a friend up in Aberdeen, actually. You?"

"Parents. They live here. So did I, up until I was about sixteen when I got fed up with them and moved down to London with my Aunt."

"I didn't think you could get rid of a Scottish accent so easily."

"You can't. This is a fake one. I really sound like this," I said, slipping into my Scottish accent. My watch started beeping and I groaned. "I've really got to go. It was great meeting you, Harry, but I've got to run. I've got a President to assassinate," I winked. I gathered my papers and pushed them into a pile then shoved them into a folder before running out the door. I ran around the corner and made sure no-one was watching before checking the co-ordinates in my watch and leaping back to 1963. Harry came running around the corner.

"Wait! You forgot your jacket!" he yelled, but I was well on my way through the time vortex backwards in time.

* * *

July 1st 1998.

London, England, UK.

3 months later.

* * *

I was walking along the street, head down, muttering to myself when I ran into a man. "Sorry," I said. "Wibbly wobbly, time-y wimey."

"Hang on," he said. "Keira?" I looked up into the eyes of the man.

"It's Harry, isn't it? Harry Potter. What day is it?"

"It's the first of July."

"Ooh! I didn't miss it!"

"Miss what?"

"Oh, nothing. Not important at the moment. I'll see you around, Harry." I rushed off and into a store where I bought a simple, elegant dress. I then went back in time to put my name on the guest list of a very important dinner party. I jumped forward and booked into a hotel for the evening, before getting ready for the party. I located the side entrance and ducked in, checking that no-one saw me. Once inside, I stuck mainly to the shadows, using the scanning feature on my watch to identify people.

"Hey! Keira!" called a man.

"Harry," I said, slightly surprised.

"Keira, these are my best friends Ron and Hermione. Guys, this is Keira. I met her in Edinburgh about a month ago."

"Three months," I said automatically.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Oh, nothing. Wibbly wobbly, time-y wimey."

"What?" the ginger asked again.

"She says that all the time," Harry interjected. "So, how did your assassination of the President go?"

"Oh, brilliant! No-one suspected it was me. Ooh, is he about to give a speech?" I said, pointing up at the host of the party.

"Yeah, that's Mr Henries. He must have invited you. I checked; you were on the list."

"Yeah, of course. Long day. Listen. I've got to go and... Do something... important," I said awkwardly and walked swiftly away. Harry turned to his best friends to see a look on Hermione's face that meant she was thinking very heard and very fast.

"What is it, Hermione?" asked Ron.

"Those words. 'Wibbly wobbly, time-y wimey. I've heard them somewhere before, I'm sure of it."

"Ladies and gentlemen!" called Mr Henries from the stage where several honourable people were sitting. "Everyone here has had the greatest pleasure of working with me in the past, and to reward you, I have set up this dinner party. Be warned, though, that the doors are locked and there is no way out. You will all die a very painful death, choking on gas. Good-bye, associates." He pulled on a gas mask, as did the people sitting on the stage.

"Or not," said Keira, coming up beside Mr Henries. He mumbled something behind the gas mask. "Sorry, didn't quite catch that."

He pulled the mask up. "What do you mean, child? You will die same as everyone else!"

"How to explain this to a simpleton like yourself. No poisonous gas is coming to kill us." I grinned insanely. "Not today, anyway," I added on the end.

"Yes it is!"

"No, I stopped it."

"How?" he demanded.

"Well," she started. "You see, I have an expansive knowledge of ventilation systems, such as the one you were trying to pour gas through. That, put together with the fact that I knew this was happening today, meant that I was able to switch the gas with simple air fresheners."

"How could you possibly know what I was going to do?"

"I'm very good."

"No, _I'm_ very good."

"Oh, yes. In fact, I'd say you were brilliant, if I wasn't on the... planet." She pulled back his gas mask and placed it back on him. She waved and pressed a button on her watch. All of the gas-masked people fell over, unconscious.

"Oh my God, she_ killed _them!" someone screamed.

"There's always one," I muttered. "Now, erm, Harry Potter! You are now in charge of this, because I've got to..." I looked at my wrist and wriggled my fingers. I jumped off the stage and ran out the front doors in the same manner as if I were being chased.

Harry groaned and walked up to the stage. "Alright, everyone, the Police have been called and everyone is going to have to make a statement. Once you've done so, you may leave." He looked around for me, but I was long gone into the future.

* * *

31st July, 1998.

London, England, UK.

3 days later.

* * *

I knocked on the door of 12 Grimmauld Place and waited for the door to be pulled open. Hurried footsteps came to the door.

"Oh, Luna! I was so worried! I thought you'd been mugged— Hang on, you're not Luna," said the ginger standing at the door.

"I need to see Harry Potter. Right now."

"Yeah, along with everyone else! How can you even see this house?"

"Just tell him Keira's here and he'll come!"

"No," she said defiantly.

"Listen," I started but she cut me off.

"No. Get lost. You weren't on the guest list. I didn't put you there."

"Check again. I'm under Reid-comma-Keira." She closed the door and ran to find the guest list. I pulled out a pen and scribbled on my arm: Guest list. I pulled down my sleeve just as the girl opened the door again. She flicked the list to 'R' and looked triumphant.

"You're not there!"

"Yes, I am. Look, right there. Reid-comma-Keira."

"How...?"

"Are you going to let me in?"

"No. I'm not. Because I don't know how you got on this list. I didn't put you there!"

"Look, Ginny, this is important. Your life could depend on this—."

"How do you know my name? It was Harry, wasn't it? I'm sure you both had a good laugh behind my back! How do you know him anyway? Are you like his girlfriend?"

"NO!" I shouted. "No, that could _never_ happen."

"Just... do yourself a favour and get out of here."

"Ginerva Molly Weasley. It is imperative that I speak with Harry at this exact moment or the whole universe might implode!"

"Jeez, over dramatic much. Fine. Come in," she said, far from friendly.

"Keira!" said Harry, a little surprised. "How did you...?" He looked at Ginny questioningly.

"Don't ask me, I have no idea. She just knocked on the door and demanded to see you."

"Listen, Harry—," I started. I then looked pointedly at Ginny. She rolled her eyes and walked back to the main party. "Harry, I need your help. Because I know who you are now and there's a fully armed warship on its way to planet Earth."


	2. We save the Earth from Destruction

Two—

We save the Earth from destruction.

* * *

"Why do you need my help?" asked Harry as he followed me out the door and into the night.

"Because the 14th Division of the Guilden Battle Fleet is heading for Earth, and the Guilden Warriors have got it set in their little hearts to destroy said planet."

"Why? Is this unprovoked? Have they been here before?"

"No. Not yet. They were here in the future, when Earth has defences. You lot smashed the whole Fleet, all ten million of the ships. Well, nine million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine ships. They want to destroy Earth so it never happens. They stole technology from my race, a long time ago, so they jumped back to now and are going to destroy Earth. There's 70 000 armed aliens up there, ready to destroy the planet. The Guilden Warriors were born to fight. That's what they do. They're intergalactic bullies."

"Wait, you said 'your race'. What's that supposed to mean, that you aren't human?"

"Yeah," I said. When Harry looked dumb-struck, I added, "Lots of people I know aren't human. John F Kennedy for one!"

"Wait, JFK was an alien?"

"Of course. He came here to take control of the Earth and sell you all off as slaves. That's why I killed him. God, you're thick. Even as humans go."

"But he looked human! So do you, for that matter."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, humans! You think you're so much better than everyone else, and you assume that everyone in the Universe is copying you. Ever stop to consider that you look Deltan? We came first! Do you know how big the Universe is? The pattern doesn't just belong to you! Now, back to the Guilden Warriors who are trying to prevent Earth from killing all 700 billion of their cousins. Well, six hundred and ninety-nine billion, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred and thirty thousand of their cousins."

"That's more aliens than there are people on Earth!"

"There you go again with your human-ness! Never assume that you have the biggest planet. Just be thankful you've got one; I don't." I was running through an overgrown garden to a creepy house with smashed in windows. I kicked down the door and ducked in through the arch of cobwebs.

As Harry ducked through, he commented, "I wonder how long it's been abandoned..."

"Three years. The family who lived here got lucky and won the lottery."

"Doesn't look like anyone who lived here could afford a lottery ticket," he commented.

"Like I said: _Lucky_." We walked to the largest room where a gleaming silver object stood. As soon as I was three feet inside the door, it started humming. "Hello," I smiled. Harry was hesitating at the door. "Come on, she's not going to hurt you!"

"Who is 'She'?"

"This is FAIPANS."

"FAIPANS?"

"Yes. FAIPANS, F-A-I-P-A-N-S. Friendly Artificial Intelligence Program And Navigation System. She's my space ship. I like to call her FAI."

"FAI?"

"Yes, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, it's just..._ that's_ a space ship?" he asked doubtfully. FAI only looked big enough to carry me, from the outside.

"Yeah. C'mon!" I walked forward and a doorway opened in the side I stepped through. "You may need to duck!" I called back as FAI deliberately lowered the door frame.

"How...?" he asked, gazing around at the large room they were now standing in.

"Well, as you came through the door, FAI shrunk you and you're now a quarter of the size you were just before."

"Really?" he asked, intrigued.

"No," I replied mockingly. "It's another dimension. Only humans ever fall for that. This technology is _way_ beyond shrink rays!"

"Oh," he said embarrassedly. I pressed a button on the control panel and sat on a chair. Harry went to do the same but FAI moved the chair and he fell down. A sound sort of like giggling issued through the speakers.

"FAI," I said warningly. She put the chair back and Harry sat quickly down.

"So, what exactly do we need to do? Are we going to blast them out of the sky?"

"No. I'm not committing genocide today. Not if I can help it. We're going to apologise."

"And you need me because...?"

"They don't like me all that much. And a human needs to apologise. I'm only the protector of this world. You're the human delegate."

"_Me_?" he asked, panicked. "Why _me_?"

"You as good as any other." FAI beeped and I stood up. I walked to the door and poked my head out to see a familiar hall. "Those _bastards_!"

"What?" asked Harry, poking his head out too.

"You see this hall? This is a hall from the Deltan Empire! No-good, dirty-rotten—," I grumbled.

"Ok, that's enough. Why are we standing in the doorway?"

"As soon as we set foot in this ship, they'll know we're here. They already know we're here, but they don't know what species we are. Well, they know I'm here. Their sensors won't be tuned to human."

"But if they know we're here, won't they be coming this way anyway? Shouldn't we give ourselves a head-start?"

"Good point. You go first, and get ready to run. FAI, stealth mode, alright? Let's go!" I jumped out and FAI immediately disappeared. We ran as the security system announced: 'Deltan life form identified. Deltan life form identified.'

A yell of fury was heard all over the ship as the General in charge realised I was on board. He didn't realise we were here to make peace; he didn't care. He wanted me dead. Harry gasped as we came into view of the three Guilden Warriors guarding the control room. They were an impressive blue colour.

"Halt!" one of them commanded. "You are now prisoners of the 14th Division of the Guilden Battle Fleet. Stay where you are!"

"Go on, scan me then! I'm Deltan! The General will want to see me himself!"

"The Deltan speaks the truth! Take the other for questioning!"

"No," I said defiantly. "He's _my_ delegate. Get your own! He's coming to see the General with me!"

"Very well. You have named your terms."

"Those aren't my terms! They're the laws of the Guilden-Deltae conjunction! My terms are to be told only to the General. Besides, my delegate has his own terms. Don't you, delegate?"

He looked at me oddly, "I'm Har—," he started, but I cut him off with a glare and a shake of my head. "I am the delegate for planet Earth, and my terms are to remain with Kei—the Deltan." I gave him a look that said he needed to add more. "I also have the right to speak directly to the General."

"Agreed," the guard said and placed his palm on the door. It slid open and the other two guards held our hands behind our backs I grumbled something about poor hospitality, but my guard only gripped harder. We were marched into the room and the General turned around.

"Hanna?" I gasped, looking into his face. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."

"Hello, Key-hah!" he said, pronouncing my name in Deltan. "And sorry doesn't cut it." The guard holding me relaxed his grip for a moment and I pulled free. He reached out to grab me again.

"Get—get off me!" I said, stepping out of reach. "Hanna, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what Earth did. And I'm sorry for what the High Council did."

"Your delegate will speak now," he said angrily. I nodded at Harry.

"My name is Harry Potter, and I am the delegate for planet Earth. I was summoned by its protector, Keira, to apologise for the damage that my race will do in the future. I hope you will accept my apology on behalf of the planet and not attack it."

"Who is this imbecile that you place before me, Key-hah? And since when were you 'Keira'?"

"Hanna, please—,"

"No, Key-hah. I've had enough of your antics. We are going to destroy your planet. What does it mean to you? It's just one less planet you have to protect!"

"Hanna! This is my planet, you know that!"

"General Hanna, if I may input?" asked one of the guards.

"If you must," he sighed.

"Do you know the Deltan, sir?"

"Yes," I cut in. "We were friends, in the days before the war," I said nostalgically.

"Yes, _before_ the war! Now we are not."

"Hanna, I'm sorry! I can't change what happened, so I'm doing the best I can, and I'm apologising!"

"Sorry doesn't bring back my brother!"

"Glem isn't on this ship? He should be with you!"

"He outranked me long ago! He led the mission to destroy this world. And his ship was the first to be shot down by your precious little humans."

"Hanna, this isn't your fight!"

"I'm making it my fight!"

"That makes it my fight too. Please, Hanna, I don't want to commit another genocide. Not after Silin."

"_You _destroyed the caves of Silin?"

"Yes. And I'm not proud of it. Just like I'm not proud of Gardah, or the Epsilon Belt. I don't want to destroy the almighty Guilden Warriors."

"Key-hah, we are wrong in our claim. We are not the greatest Warriors in the universe. You are. We will do as you say, and leave this world. What is done cannot be undone. As your delegate has apologised for the destruction of my people, I, as the delegate for the Guilden Warriors, apologise for the destruction of yours. Prepare systems for withdrawal from planetary destruction. We're going home. Can we take you anywhere? We are forever in your debt."

"But she didn't do anyth—," Harry started.

I put my hand over his mouth and whispered, "Diplomatic." Louder, I continued, "No, General Hanna, leader of the 14th Division of the Guilden Battle Fleet. Your kindness will not be forgotten." I nodded and he nodded back. The guards escorted us out of the control room and left us as Hanna's voice echoed through the ship, telling everyone that they were returning to Guilda.

"You did it!" Harry smiled.

"No, _we_ did it." We high-fived and walked back to FAI.

"You never told me why they attacked in the first place," he said suddenly. "All those years in the future, why?"

"Because they were chasing me. I escaped, but they have profiles of all their enemies, and there were pictures of me. They knew I'd come here."

"Why were they chasing you?"

"Once, a very long time ago, the Guilden Warriors and the Deltae lived in harmony. Some might even go as far as to call them friends. We co-existed peacefully. We gave them education, they gave us battle techniques. But the Guilden Warriors got greedy and stole some equipment from us. They made crude time-travelling capsules, and when the Deltae found out, they were furious. All links were severed between them and us. The Guilden Warriors took this as a gesture of war. And go to war they did. I did. Everyone was called back to Delta, away from their duties. The High Council suited you up and sent you out to fight against the best warriors in the universe. But the Deltan people are not ones of war. We're more moral than that. Educated people, we were. The most educated in the universe. I'm not a fighter. I survived because I ran. I ran far away to the other end of the universe and I hid. I didn't kill anyone; I never could unless it was destined to be. I went back, on the last day of the war. The whole of Delta was in ruins. Children were screaming as Guilden Warriors swooped in with lasers and gases. It was a slaughter; we weren't meant to fight, we were meant to settle things in a diplomatic way. That's what set us apart from the rest of the universe. We didn't even have our own planet. I couldn't save them. I didn't see what happened to my parents, but I saw them kill my sister."

"Hanna was just trying to bring his brother back. If it pains you so much, why not just go back and save them?"

"Because I can't. Apart from the fact that I was present in the vital moments, I can't go back and see that again. It was very nearly genocide. You've never seen genocide, Harry. I have. I've been the cause of it. And even when they're most deserving, you can't do it. But you have to anyway. And it kills you from the inside."


	3. The Feeling's not Mutual

Three—

The feeling's not mutual.

* * *

After our diplomatic triumph over the Guilden Warriors, Harry and I travelled around a bit. We saw the writing of the scrolls of Alpha, the Moon landing in 1969, the cliffs of Grame, with the famous Purple Sea washing at its banks, the crowning of Gwyndola, princess of Rendim, and occasionally we stopped back to 1998 to make sure everyone was OK. Time flew (literally) and before either of us could figure it out, we'd been travelling for six months. One day, when we were on Omicron 6, Harry came up to me.

"Keira, I've been thinking."

"Mmm?"

"And well, while nearly all of this is too much to figure out, I have figured out something."

"What?" I asked, not looking up from the computer screen where I was watching the intergalactic news.

"Keira, I love y—."

"Stop right there, Harry James Potter! Don't say another word."

As usual, he ignored me. "C'mon! I love you! I will always love you, and no-one else!"

"NO! You can't say that!"

"But I love you! I want to be with you! Why not?"

"I'm a time traveller. Do you know what that means? We can _never_ be together. I can _never_ get too attached to _anyone_, because it will_ never _last. Now you... you end up having a full and happy life, while I... I just keep wandering, forever lonely. I can never be with anyone, _ever_! And it sucks. And it _always_ will. I've saved the universe so many times, and what do I get? Nothing. I'm _lonely_, Harry. And no-one can change that. You're lucky. You get to see this, all these _amazing_ things, and at the end of the day you can go home, and rest, and look back on this with fond memories. But me, I can never rest, never stop,_ never_ look behind me, in fear of what I've done. I've destroyed whole civilisations, whole planets, whole _species_. And I have to keep on doing it, so that the universe is always safe. You see this mark?" I asked, holding up my wrist. "It's written in my people's language, Deltan. My home was beautiful, and amazing, and that was our job. To do this. To protect planets. When we're old enough, we have to go to the High Temple and we're given a planet to protect for our whole lives, and it is tattooed on our wrist. It's so if we die, and our bodies are recovered, the High Council can replace us. In Deltan, the language of the Deltan people, inhabitants of the great empire of Delta, it says 'Earth'. I was assigned the planet Earth, a fairly low level planet, because the High Council thought me unworthy of higher planets, such as Omicron 9 or Gardah." I rolled the R in Gardah in a frightening way. "And look where it got them," I continued, tears welling in my eyes. "They're dead! All of them! I'm the only survivor of what could possibly have been the greatest civilization of all time! I've got the universe stacked against me, and I'm still alive. Probability says I should be dead! But look! Here I am, alive and well, and oh so lonely. Maybe I should just let the universe turn to dust. Let the creatures who want to wreak havoc do so. Because maybe I just can't be bothered any more. So many people who I've watched grow old and wither while I keep living, because the universe needs me, and Harry, I'm sorry. I've interfered in your life far too much already."

"You seem to know so much about me, and my future, but how can I ever get over you?"

"You can, you have to, you _do_."

"But _who_? Who could possibly be as wonderful as you?"

"Someone who's been there the whole time, who loves you with all their heart."

"Give me a name."

"No, I can't. It would ruin the future."

"Then what you said before, about watching people grow old and die! Do you know when I die?"

I nodded slowly.

"But you can't tell me."

I shook my head. "But Harry... I'll be there. I will be there on the day that you die. I promise."

"So that's it? You're just going to bring me into your amazing life and then push me out again, with only a promise of _being there_ when I die?"

I opened my mouth to say something but he cut me off. "No, don't. Just... don't."

"I'm going to take you back to Earth, and you're going to forget about me, and you're going to get married, and you're going to have the most wonderful wife, and children, and you won't speak to me until the day that you die. And it's going to torture you on the inside, but I can't help that. And I'm sorry, I really am, that it had to end this way, but I'm doing my best to make sure that you return to normal life. Because none of this was supposed to happen."

"What do you mean, never supposed to happen?"

"My meeting you isn't like me starting World War II or assassinating JFK. It wasn't a fixed point in time. I literally was never meant to meet you. But I got the dates muddled and had to ask you, all those months ago, on the fourth of June, 1998. I wish I could give back to you the part of your life that I've stolen, but I can't. And it's killing me on the inside, like it always does. It's all glitter and beauty until someone attacks you, or you fly into the middle of a war. And then there's the danger of losing you, and disrupting the space/time continuum. Because every moment you spend with me puts you in even more danger."

"You think I don't know what it feels like to be in terrible danger? For the best part of the last seven years of my life before you I was in constant danger, all the time. How does Lord Voldemort stack up against your intergalactic dangers, eh? I had to leave the girl I loved to fight him. Because that's what people like you and me do. We fight evil, and we fight, and we fight, and we give up terrible amounts because we must keep fighting. "I had to leave Ginny, and you know what? She didn't even cry. That's how brave she is. Ginny's just... Ginny..." he trailed off and looked at me. My eyes were sparkling with tears.

"Anyway, we couldn't be together. Think of the age gap. You're what, eighteen? I'm seven hundred and eighty-two."

"You're looking good for your age, then," he smirked. I was about to set the co-ordinates for Earth when FAI's lighting started flashing red and a siren sounded. "What does that mean?" Harry yelled over the noise.

I was staring at the screen in horror. "No... Harry, I've just put you in terrible danger. Omicron 5 and Omicron 7 are about to go to war."

"Hang on; didn't you say we were on Omicron 6?"

"Yes. Harry, we're in the middle of a war-zone!"


	4. Never get involved in an Omicronian War

Four—

Why you should never get involved in an Omicronian war.

* * *

"Can't we just... I don't know, fly away? You _do_ have a spaceship, you know."

"No, Harry. We can't leave, we can't move. FAI is literally paralysed until the airspace is clear. We're stuck here. I'm just going to have a quick look outside, see what position we're in." I walked to the door and peered out. "By the looks of the sky and the ground, we're in the 4th mountain range of Guta. It's deserted. That's odd. This place should be full of Omicronians of the 6th Order. It should be full... of...life," I said, my words drifting off lazily, as if I were exceptionally tired. I tumbled out of FAI and she beeped a warning to Harry. He went to the door, but I was no-where to be found. He started getting the same effects as me and only managed three words before he passed out.

"FAI... stealth...mode." He fell on his face in the dirt.

I woke in a tent that was exceptionally dirty. I was surrounded by people wearing cloths over their faces. It was still easy to tell by their vividly coloured hair that they were Omicronian.

"She's foreign," one said in 6th League Omicronian. So they were Omicronians of the 6th Order. "Two hearts, and her cells are all backwards. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear she was Deltan." I groaned and attempted to sit up, failing miserably.

"Someone get her a scarf," the one sitting next to me ordered. A shorter Omicronian brought forth a grey cloth and tied it around my head. I sat up and cracked my neck.

"That was fun. Where am I?" I asked. They all looked at me confusedly. Of course; I was speaking in Deltan. "Where am I?" I repeated in 6th League Omicronian.

"You speak the language?" the one next to me asked.

"Yeah," I said, rubbing my head. I had a shocking headache.

"You're in the main Medical Base," she told me.

"Where is everyone? What happened? Last time I was on Omicron 6, there were people everywhere!"

"Our neighbouring planets happened. They wiped out most of us, and forced the rest of us to set up camps like this. Pray tell us, child: what is your name?"

"I'm Key-hah. What is your name?"

"Jardlacka. Key-hah, that's a pretty name. What planet is it from?"

"Not from a planet. But it's Deltan."

"What does it mean?" Jardlacka asked urgently.

"I had a friend, travelling with me. Is he here?"

"Child, the meaning of your name! What is it?"

"Key-hah. It means—."

"Survivor," we said in unison.

"And you: are you Deltan?"

"Yes. I am the last of my kind."

"You're the survivor. Oh my Lord Omicron! It's coming true; the prophecy's coming true! After all these years!"  
"The prophecy?"

"You said you'd come here before, Key-hah. What do you know of the 11 Prophecies of Omicron?"

* * *

Harry woke to find a scarf tied roughly around his mouth, his hands and feet bound, being dragged backwards down the Guta Mountain Range. He was groggy, but aware of the fact that his captors were speaking in a foreign language. Somehow his glasses hadn't slipped off yet, and he was grateful of that fact. Half an hour later, he found himself being yanked to his feet by two people with brightly coloured hair. They made him walk (as best he could) into a large building with seven strokes on it. Harry supposed that this was the base for Omicron 7. He was marched up to the door and the shorter one rapped a specific pattern of seven knocks and part of the door was slid open. The guard inside had a short conversation with the short one and then Harry was dragged inside. He was sat on a white chair in an empty room, followed in by a very old alien. His once bright blue hair was faded and matted and he pointed to himself.

"Janda," he said slowly.

"Harry," Harry nodded, pointing to himself.

"Harry," the old man confirmed, pointing at Harry. He nodded.

"Janda," Harry said, pointing at the other. He received a smile and a nod. "Where am I?" Janda looked at him confusedly. "Do you speak English?" Harry did a mime and Janda shook his head. "Earth?" he asked exasperatedly. The man nodded and pulled a device out of his pocket. He pressed a button and a 3D map of the Omicronian planets appeared. Janda pointed to Omicron 6, which they were on, and manoeuvred the joystick so that there was a much larger range of planets. He pointed to one and enlarged it. Harry could see that it was Earth and nodded. Out of his pocket he pulled another device, and attached it to Harry's shirt.

"Hello," Janda said, smiling. "Now we will be able to understand each other."

"How...?" Harry asked, perplexed.

"A simple translator. I would have given it to you earlier, but I had no idea what your language was. Now, tell me why you're here."

* * *

"The Eleven prophecies of Omicron? I know that there's one for every planet, but I don't know what each individual one is. I only know the second one. Oh, wasn't that a fun day full of savages and disease."

"You were the one in the Second prophecy?" Jardlacka gasped.

"Yeah. It was a bit awkward, actually. Anyway, what is your prophecy?"

"The 6th prophecy of our Lord Omicron has been guarded for many centuries.

"_In a time of war and danger, a girl will come to the aid of those who wish it. The greatest survivor in the universe, the last of her kind, shall come to be the saviour of the faithful. At sunrise on the 6__th__ day of war, she shall come, and will speak the language. She will reveal the meaning of her name and save the lives of all who have not yet perished._

"Key-hah, you must be the one who ends this war! But you're so young!" I understood this. I looked very young, probably only fifteen or so. "You must have little experience!"

"I'm always the one that ends wars," I said coldly. "And I'm older than I look. Now, you must tell me: can you take me back to where you found me? I need to find my friend."

"Of course. But not now. Not until the sun goes down. You need to eat, and rest. Here, have some Gimbles."

"Did you know that it's been nearly three _hundred _years since anyone made me anything to eat? Last time I was here, that was. They gave me Gwam and Greada. The most delicious thing I'd ever tasted. Can't say the same for Gimbles, though," I said, grimacing at the taste of the lumpy green goo. "Jambarna was the best cook."

"My grandmother's name was Jambarna," said Jardlacka excitedly.

"Yes, you look a lot like her. This was probably about 50 years ago, from your point of view. Nearly 300 for me. That was a long time ago. What happened to her? Did she have a good life?"

"Yes, she did. She passed on only a few years ago."

"And what of her daughter, Julahmatr?"

"My mother was killed as a result of the 5th order of Omicron."

"Bastards," I said, under my breath in English. After the sun had gone down, it was decidedly cooler, and the short Omicronian who had gotten me the scarf earlier led me to where FAI should have been.

"Your ship has disappeared! Perhaps your friend moved it?"

"No, FAI can't move until the war is resolved. She's stuck here. Just a second." I whistled a low calling to my ship. The returning whistle was much higher. I cringed. "She's here, but she's in a lot of pain. Harry must have put her in stealth mode. FAI?" I asked in a clear voice. She flickered into sight and back out again. I walked up to her and put my cheek on her side, the way one might do with cool glass. "FAI, you're freezing! I stepped inside, and what I saw made me want to be sick. Instead of the cheerful interior I was used to, FAI had to resort to the option that took least effort for her. It was a plain, pale brown and everything from the control panel to the computer screens to the doorways to her small beeping screamed sick. Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought of all the things she and I had been through. I started humming soothingly and placed my hand on the flap that covered her heart. I opened it and involuntarily took a step backwards in disgust. I knelt down to get a better look at what had once been the most beautiful machine in the universe. A pale sickly green glow emanated from the cavity and I didn't hesitate in sticking my hand down so that she could absorb some of my energy.

"FAI, what happened to Harry?" One of the screens flickered to life and it showed Harry leaning out and looking for me, then falling to the ground. He was dragged off by two men, muttering something. "Enhance Audio," I said and it became immediately clear that they were Omicronians of the 7th Order. I ordered temporary shut down on FAI, and she did so as I walked out the door. "Alright, I need you to tell me where Omicron 7's main base is. That's where my friend has been taken."

"It's that way," the little Omicronian replied, pointing over the mountain.

"And how long will it take me to get there?"

"About an hour and a half."

"Alright. Thank you very much. What was your name again?"

"I'm Jambaron."

"Thank you for everything you've done. Now get back to the others."

"Where are you going, Miss Key-hah?"

I started walking the way he'd pointed. "I'm going to save my friend and possibly stop the war."

"Well, good luck, Miss Key-hah!"

"And you, Jambaron." I turned back and started walking down the sloping path. "I'm coming, Harry."


End file.
